I did not set out to write about sex, though in some of these stories it does appear that's what makes the turkey trot. Rather, the beginning was mundane enough. Not long ago I discovered two boxes of old letters in the basement of our house in Vermont, letters I received and saved between the ages of 18 and 31. For reasons I can not explain, these crinkly typed and written pages ignited a creative frenzy. I rewrote four old short stories and over the next several months created seven new ones. Do I have a favorite? I like them all, but it struck me in my final run-through for this volume that there was only one story, My Friend, in which I did not change a single word. Here they are, hormones and all. I hope you enjoy.